Global online event help tourism industry reach 600 million consumers

24th Aug 2012

An innovative online interactive 3D event allows countries to showcase their best destinations to the world.

In first quarter of 2014, the world will see the largest-ever gathering of countries, travel-related businesses, and consumers in an international online expo. Called Wonders of the World, the monumental event is unprecedented as it aims to bring the entire travel industry, as well as its consumers, together on the world’s biggest event space - the Internet.

This unique event allows the tourism industry to participate by allowing destinations - either interior, exterior, or both - to be re-constructed in an interactive three-dimensional (3D) format. Consumers can now visit and interact with a country’s renowned attractions, as well as have a bird’s-eye view of their landscapes and structures from their computers or tablets, thanks to realistic, built-to-scale 3D reconstructions.

Travel industry and media partners can then embed the event’s interactive 3D scenes on their own websites and portals, replacing the traditional pictures typically used. With just two lines of code, an entire 3D location can be included effortlessly into these websites.

This online collaboration will bring about a significant boost to the travel industry as it provides a limitless and cost-effective platform to showcase and promote a destination’s best sights to consumers all over the world in a hassle-free and efficient manner.

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“The unique selling point of Wonders of the World is that it is a one-stop media mechanism for the entire travel and tourism industry. There is also the idea of interactivity and immersion - in which consumers’ interests can be piqued through their experience in exploring the destinations firsthand,” said Mr. Terence Mak, CEO of 3rd Planet, the event organizer, “The event offers an innovative alternative in the form of an affordable yet immersive interactive 3D platform,” he added.

“By bringing all the best tourism locations onto one massive platform, participating tourism bodies participating will realize tremendous mileage by pooling their resources to reach out to the global audience more effectively,” he noted.

The event has received strong positive responses from several countries since opening up registration from the travel and tourism industry earlier this month.

The event particularly reaches out to broadband users, who generally tend to be more affluent and IT-savvy. This means they can afford trips, tend to stay at a location longer, and spend more money during their vacation - the ideal target for the industry.

With users mass sharing the sites on social media outlets such as Facebook, Twitter, as well as China’s Weibo and Renren, Wonders of the World will be of an extensive scale, reaching out to some 600 million across the six continents. This is a much more massive outreach compared to the 2010 Shanghai World Expo, which saw over 73 million attendees.

To help enable a fast and convenient experience, 3rd Planet will be partnering with local top-tier broadband operators in each country to roll out the fast-speed event.

“The earlier the countries join Wonders of the World, the more time we have in helping to create the best online interactive 3D experience for them,” said Mr. Mak.

Not just businesses, consumers, too, will benefit from a stunning preview of the best destinations in the world, and for free. At the same time, they also stand a chance to take part in competitions and win dream travel-related prizes.